Here's everything we know about Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Lucasfilm's new animated series on Disney+. The Star Wars franchise has developed multiple successful animated shows since the late 2000s. Star Wars: The Clone Wars debuted in 2008 and became a fan-favorite part of the galaxy far, far away after it made adjustments to its rocky start. Star Wars Rebels became the flagship series under Dave Filoni in 2014 and wrapped up its story after only four seasons. Star Wars Resistance only lasted two seasons before it finished its run on Disney XD.
All of Star Wars' animated shows explored a different pocket of time in the expansive universe. The Clone Wars showed Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi's stories between Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Meanwhile, Star Wars Rebels took place in the years before the original trilogy and Resistance happened right before the sequel trilogy. Lucasfilm's last animated effort was completing The Clone Wars' story with a seventh season on Disney+. The last chapter in the prequel story proved to be worth the wait, but it also set up Star Wars: The Bad Batch with multiple episodes dedicated to the team.
After the debut of the Bad Batch in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7, Lucasfilm officially announced a spinoff series following the elite clone troopers team. It is created by Dave Filoni and has Jennifer Corbett serving as lead writer and Brad Rau as supervising director. But what else do we know about the next animated Star Wars show? Here are the confirmed cast members, release date info, and story details for Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Cast & Characters
The main characters of Star Wars: The Bad Batch are the five clones who make up Clone Force 99. They are led by Hunter and the rest of its members are known as Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo. Since they are all clones, Dee Bradley Baker provides the voice for each member, just as he's voiced the different clones in past animated Star Wars projects. Dee Bradley Baker will also provide the voice of Captain Rex, another clone who will appear in Star Wars: The Bad Batch. It is also known that Ming-Na Wen will reprise her role from The Mandalorian as Fennec Shand, while Stephen Stanton will voice Grand Moff Tarkin in yet another animated Star Wars show. Andrew Kishino voices Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Saw Gerrera instead of Forest Whitaker returning to the role. The marketing has also shown that Emperor Palpatine will appear, but it is unknown if Sam Witwer will voice him again or if Ian McDiarmid will reprise his iconic role.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Release Date
Star Wars: The Bad Batch will debut on Disney+ on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 in honor of the May the Fourth holiday. The first episode will be an extended 70-minute premiere and launch on Disney+ at 12:01 am PST. New episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch will then air on Fridays on Disney's streaming service, including the week of its premiere. It is not yet confirmed how many episodes are included in the first season, which makes it impossible to know when the finale airs.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Story
Star Wars: The Bad Batch continues Clone Force 99's story after the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7. The galaxy has just been taken over by the Empire, leaving the Bad Batch to try and figure out what their future holds. As exceptional soldiers due to their unique skills, each would be welcomed members of the Imperial Army. However, Star Wars: The Bad Batch will focus on them becoming mercenaries in the galaxy far, far away. This appears to include a visit to Kamino and recruiting a mysterious young kid named Omega to join their ragtag group.